


Helios Investigations

by colls



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Detective Noir, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-03
Updated: 2014-07-03
Packaged: 2018-02-07 07:24:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1890105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/colls/pseuds/colls
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laura Roslin is on the edge of an impending midlife crisis. A former analyst for the Department of Education more accustomed to investigating background checks than detective work, she nonetheless finds herself the sole proprietor of <i>Helios Investigations</i>. Unsure whether sell the business or close up shop, a desperate client stumbles into her office.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Helios Investigations

**Author's Note:**

  * For [skieswideopen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/skieswideopen/gifts).



> This is not a fully Earth-based detective noir AU, one or two elements of the "Twelve Colonies" society crop up as common place that would not exist in our 20th century. Thanks to my beta for taking a look at an earlier draft. Remaining mistakes are mine.

Her father’s business had been in decline for years, but it really suffered during the last few months of his life. The neighborhood, never the most prominent in Caprica City, now had several boarded up store fronts and ‘For Lease’ signs peppered the block. The two-room office above what used to be a wireless repair shop held the same furniture it did when she was a child; the shabby visitor chairs, the steel grey desks, the dingy window blinds. Laura walked into the inner office and found, in the bottom left drawer, the predictable bottle of cheap ambrosia. 

After the appointment she’d just had at the health center, she thought a bottle of cheap ambrosia sounded exactly like what the doctor ordered. 

She scanned through the mail as she sipped her drink. As she’d expected, it was full of unpaid bills and more than a few past due notices. There was one letter from her divorce attorney, no doubt a copy of the final decree. Richard Adar had calculated their divorce like he calculated their marriage, for maximum benefit to him and his career. A generation ago, a divorced man would’ve had trouble running for office. With the divorce rate at an all time high, Richard used it as a way to highlight how he was the everyman candidate for mayor and the public ate it up. According to him, the divorce was all about Laura leaving the public sector and going in a different direction, about them growing apart. In reality, she’d been laid off from her government job and Richard was sleeping with a younger woman. She may be broke, but at least she no longer had to play the happy wife of a rising politician.

Considering the stack of bills, she wondered if Richard might not have had the right idea about selling her father’s business. The longer she failed to turn a profit, the less likely she’d find any sort of buyer. She looked around the familiar room with a pang of nostalgia. This had been her father’s life, but maybe it was time to let it go. It’s not like she had a lot of time left to turn a profit anyway. 

 

“Hello! Is anyone here?”

Startled, Laura stood and grabbed a letter opener as she moved around the desk. She flicked her eyes to the safe which contained her father’s hand gun, but decided she didn’t have time. Silently cursing herself for leaving the door unlocked, she cautiously entered the outer office reception area.

“I’m looking for a detective,” the man said before she could speak.

She pointed to the office door, where the name ‘ _Helios Investigations_ ’ was outlined in worn vinyl decals. “You’ve found the right place. Do you have an appointment?” Laura knew full well he didn’t, she’d had fewer and fewer appointments lately. 

“No, I don’t. My name is Lee Adama.” He reached out his hand in greeting. As they shook hands, she noted his leather briefcase and expensive wrist watch. “I’d like to hire you.” 

Despite the understated appearance of wealth, Adama was a disheveled character. He looked like he had slept in the suit he was wearing, tailored or not, yet at the same time he looked like he hadn’t slept in days. Laura couldn’t decide which was more likely. In any case, she decided that she wasn’t going to be fussy when a month’s rent walked into her office. 

She motioned him to follow him to her office where she unceremoniously dumped the pile of paperwork on her desk into drawer and offered Adama a drink. He declined and she stowed the bottle.

“I think my current employer is sabotaging my former employer,” he began.

“What gives you that idea?”

“It all started when my wife went missing.” While Laura pondered why he didn’t lead with that bit information, Adama pulled a file out and laid it on her desk. “Dee’s replacement on the communications project is a man named Simon O’Neill. According to rumors, he’s completely pulled Dee’s coding on the project and replaced it with his own. Dee is rather incorruptible. I think that was inconvenient and that’s why...”

Laura held up a hand to interrupt. “Back up to the part about your wife being missing. Have you filed a missing persons report?”

“I tried. The cops didn’t take it seriously, didn’t even bother to make a few calls. Everyone is convinced that she skipped town. That she went underground because she’s involved in the black market or something - which makes no sense, she’s as straight laced as they come. Besides, she wouldn’t leave without telling me.”

Laura’s head was swimming. For a moment she wondered if it was from the cheap ambrosia but knew that she hadn’t had that much. The man acted as if Laura knew all about his life, his company, his wife, that she had been privy to his thoughts all along. His story was disconnected and incoherent. She knew there were typically two reasons for a person to be so disorganized, either they were distraught over the events they were describing or anxious because they had something to hide. 

After a deep breath, he continued. “Look, I know it sounds crazy, coming out in a jumble like that. I know people think she wants nothing to do with me, but she would never abandon work like this. Her career is very important to her. And she wouldn’t leave Muffit behind.”

“Muffit?”

“Her daggit. We…. uh… don’t… didn’t have children. That pet means a lot to her.” 

“What line of work was she in?”

“She _is_ an operator at Galactica Telecomm. The one that got that big military contract? You probably read about in the papers. Anyway, she was put in charge of one of the ship-to-ship communication relays and it’s a lot of responsibility. It’ll mean a big promotion for her if it goes well.”

He dropped his head and looked down at his hands. “She might have left me, but she’d never leave an opportunity like that.”

He dragged his hand through his hair, making it stick out at odd angles. “No one takes me seriously. Despite our rocky past, I know Dee. I had dinner with her the evening before she disappeared and things… things were going well. For her, I mean. She had this hopefulness about her...” 

She waited for him to continue, to connect the dots between the new employee at his wife’s company and his marriage with it’s rocky past. When he didn’t, Laura pulled out a notepad and slipped on her reading glasses. “Let’s start at the beginning.” 

Adama had met his wife (his ex-wife, he admitted that they recently been divorced) at a company function. At the time, she worked for William Adama, the CEO of Galactica Telecomm. No, he told Laura when she had lifted her eyebrow, the name was not a coincidence, William Adama was his father. Dee had started in the typing pool, but had worked her way up to executive assistant by the time they met. 

Adama also worked at Galactica Telecomm. At least he did up until the time of his divorce when he left to pursue other opportunities. Laura still wasn’t clear on what those other opportunities were, but recognized the name Romo Lampkin when Adama mentioned his current work. 

Dee had been promoted a few times over the years and had worked on several important projects. They had remained congenial after their divorce, a fact that pleased Adama’s father who had always liked Dee. On the night Dee disappeared, she had been excited about her work and spoke brightly of the future. She was particularly passionate about the relay project, convinced it was cutting edge and would pave a bold new career path for her once it proved successful. Adama was a contract lawyer and was still familiar with most of the company’s numerous government contracts as they required frequent renewals and renegotiations. He knew Dee was right when she emphasized the importance of this new communications relay. If successful, the government would likely want to order many more of them.

Now, Adama had explained, there was this man named O’Neill running Dee’s project. He was an outside man, not someone from the company. Adama had some reports on him, notes on where he’d gone to school, his address, his job history, the typical public stuff. He explained to Laura that a man like O’Neill, who had an advanced degree in engineering and had sold his own successful start up company to a competitor two years ago, was too overqualified for the position he’d taken at Galactica Telecomm. 

“The thing is, my father doesn’t even believe me,” he concluded, “He thinks I’m just creating drama. Either he’s too hurt thinking Dee skipped out on him or he’s involved somehow.”

“What is this rocky past you mentioned?”

Adama looked down at his hands, taking a steadying breath before he continued. “The divorce was because I had an affair and…. it’s over. Dee knows it’s over. I’ve washed my hands of all of it and am starting over. When we had dinner that night, she asked if that meant I had washed my hands of her, too.” He looked up and stared at Laura from across the desk. “I said it didn’t have to mean that if she didn’t want it to.”

“How did she respond to that?”

“She didn’t invite me back to her apartment or anything,” he said, “but I felt there might’ve been some room for me in that bright future she was talking about.”

The interview continued as the sky darkened and street lights slowly came on casting lackluster shadows on the windows. Laura took notes about Dee’s habits, friends, colleagues - anything she could think of to ask Adama. 

 

The next morning, Laura decided against a taxi and took the subway to the main library branch to dig up more details on Galactica Telecomm and the players involved. Everything she found confirmed what Adama told her, there was even an article about Dee’s communications relay project complete with a photograph of her and William Adama with a team of technicians on the deck of a military ship.

While she was there, Laura decided to look up Romo Lampkin. Before Richard became mayor, he’d been a prosecuting attorney and she remembered him talking about failed attempts to indict Romo Lampkin. Determined not to let a stray thought of her ex-husband bother her, she gritted her teeth and focused on the task at hand. Technically Lampkin was a defence attorney, but Richard had been convinced he had a hand in racketeering and money laundering on the side. Lee Adama had been a high-powered corporate lawyer for Galactica Telecomm, she couldn’t imagine what he was doing working with a seedy man like Romo Lampkin.

“I serve a purpose, Ms. Roslin,” Lampkin said when she phoned him. 

“And what purpose is that?”

“I help arrange things for people. Allow them to coordinate things they need coordinating.”

A completely useless response, as far as Laura was concerned. “And what role does Mr. Adama have with your organization?” 

“In addition to his knowledge of business law, Mr. Adama brings considerable management skills to the table along with a referral base.” 

Remembering the theories her ex-husband had about the man, she asked, “You’re a defense attorney for two-bit scoundrels. What sort of business projects do you need managing, Mr. Lampkin?”

“You’d be surprised.” His tone changed and he asked, “What is your interest in Mr. Adama?”

Ignoring his query, she wished him a good day and rang off. 

Laura spent the next several days interviewing Dee’s friends, neighbors and colleagues. The fact that the police had gone over this ground made it unlikely that she’d find anything new, but the police had been looking at someone who skipped town, they weren’t looking for a victim. Her father had always said that successful detective work was a patient and methodical collation of data and that getting that data first hand was better than anything else. So she doggedly followed up on the thinnest threads. 

She also worked on the O’Neill angle, finding the timing of his sudden desire for employment a coincidence worth exploring. If her gut told her that someone isn’t being forthcoming, she tailed them until she found out what they were hiding. What she came up with is that Adama’s instincts were correct. Dee didn’t skip town and didn’t fail to let him know. 

She called Adama at his office. “Is your boss around?”

“Yes. Why?”

“I’m on my way to your office. I’d like it if the three of us talked. Don’t tell him I’m coming.”

 

Romo Lampkin’s office was in a thriving and pristine business complex on the south side of town. There was a time when she would’ve been impressed, but today Laura decided that it lacked character. 

Adama carried a single sheet of paper, folded and met her at the receptionist’s desk with a muttered _this better be worth it_ under his breath and together they walked unannounced into Romo’s office. 

“You must be Laura Roslin! So lovely to finally meet you.” Romo stood and greeted them warmly. If he was surprised to see her marching into his office with Adama in tow, he didn’t show any signs. 

Laura’s lips pursed into a thin smile. “I’m sure this is going to be horribly inconvenient for you, so I’ll just get to the point. Shall I?”

“By all means,” he replied and gestured to a pair of chairs opposite his desk. “Can I ring to get you some coffee?”

“I won’t be here that long,” Laura said as she sat in the chair closest to the window. The view from his office was bland, nothing to see but more office buildings. She took a few moments to look anyway. 

After several moments of awkward silences, Adama coughed and raised an eyebrow to Laura. 

“Is business good?” she asked abruptly. 

Somewhat taken aback, Romo still didn’t miss a beat. “Fair to middlin’, as they say. Why do you ask?”

“Would you say you have more corporate clients these days, compared to your usual fair of criminals and thugs? Or can you tell the difference?”

Romo laughed and leaned back in his chair, folding his hands on his lap. “I hear the leftist papers saying that corporations are going to be the end of our society. I’m surprised to hear you follow that line of thinking, Laura. I thought your man Richard was more moderate.”

Laura ignored the comment, although it did confirm for her that he had done some homework on her after their telephone conversation the other day. “Do corporate clients like Cavil Communications use you strictly for legal matters, or do you help arrange things for them?” 

Romo’s demeanor shifted. Although he hadn’t moved, he was no longer loose and relaxed. “I’m not at liberty to discuss anything related to my clients with you. Client privilege, you understand.” 

“You don’t need to discuss them with me. I’m discussing them with you.” She stood and began pacing the office as she spoke. “Cavill Communications became your client six months ago. They had invested heavily into a communications relay project that they weren’t awarded, put all their eggs into one basket you could say. Galactica Telecomm got the contract instead. So here they sat, ready to work on something they weren’t going to get paid for. That’s when they sought you out. No legitimate attorney would arrange things for them the way a man of your reputation would.”

“Thing is, you didn’t have a competent contract attorney on staff. You’re a criminal attorney and dabble in business law insomuch as it keeps your clients out of jail and helps hide their money. So you hired Lee Adama. A nice and legitimate cover for your expanding business.” 

“I haven’t worked on a single thing for Cavil Communications,” said Adama, placing the sheet of paper he’d carried in on Romo’s desk. “In fact, half the contracts you’ve had me working on are bogus and the other half are so simplistic they could be handled by a pre-law student.”

“It takes time to grow that sort of business,” Romo said. “I told you it would start small, but as our reputation builds…”

“Cavil Communications had some interesting options when they bought Simon O’Neill’s start up a few years ago,” Laura interrupted, continuing to lay out what she’d discovered. “Adama pointed it out when he first came to my office, but I’m pretty sure no one else made the connection when O’Neill suddenly re-entered the workforce. He was part of the upfront expense Cavil Communications laid out in expectation of getting that contract.”

Romo wasn’t squirming in his seat. Not yet. Laura had only just started. 

“Your first task was to get O’Neill on the relay team. Not only on it, but running it. And to do that you’d have to get rid of the project leader at Galactica Telecomm. But she didn’t have any skeletons in her closet, did she? You couldn’t even use her divorce against her.”

“You pulled a con job on her. A pretty good one, too. I have to admit. You convinced her that her father was ill and somehow all the traditional transports to Sagitarron were all booked up. When she did manage to book passage, it was with an outfit called Doral Tours.” 

Laura turned to look at Adama. “Did you know that Doral Tours is owned by Cavil Communications?”

“I did not know that,” Adama replied conspiratorily.

“I had nothing to do with Ms. Dualla’s disappearance. You have absolutely no proof.” A thin break in Romo’s composure was beginning to show.

Laura smiled. “Of course you didn’t. You’re not responsible for a transport going missing. I mean, commercial transports are generally safer than riding a bike, but calculating a jump is extremely precise and… well, they are known to go wrong.”

“And she did call me,” Adama interjected, “here at the office. Her message was never delivered.” He turned to look at Laura. “I told you she wouldn’t have left without telling me. She probably planned on calling into work en route.” 

Laura perched herself on the edge of the desk turning her back to Romo and speaking directly to Adama. “The logical conclusion is that Cavil Communications wanted to sabotage Galactica Telecomm’s comunications relay project so that it would fail and the contract would come up for bidding again. Right?”

Adama nodded. “That’s not what they did?”

“No. It’s not. O’Neill’s code wouldn’t have failed. In fact, he claimed it would’ve actually outperformed the original code Dee’s team had in place.”

“That’s odd,” Adama agreed.

“I thought so, too. Until I learned the catch.” She turned to face Romo. “Do you want to know what the catch was? Or were you already privy to their plans.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Romo said blandly.

“The catch was a subroutine code embedded in the main code. The technical details are quite tedious, but needless to say it would’ve given Cavil Communications access to everything from any military ship using the new relay. One can imagine that the potential consequences of such a thing could be staggering.”

“How, exactly, did you find the embedded code?” Romo asked, genuinely curious.

“No one told you? That Doral Tours transport has finally shown up. The miscalculated jump was cleverly intended to put them out of range for another week, but I guess someone screwed up.”

“Dee knows her way around code,” Adama supplied and nodded to the paper on Romo’s desk. “By the way, that’s my letter of resignation.”

“You’re fired,” Romo said.

Laura stood and prepared to leave. “Anyway, I finished my formal report to the authorities this morning and I’m sure they’ll be by to take a statement from Mr. Adama shortly. There’ll probably be a formal investigation and certainly a lot of fines. You might want to look into hiring a lawyer, Mr. Lampkin.”

Adama chortled and followed her out of the office.

“Fired!” Romo’s voice reverberated as the door closed.

 

Adama returned with her to _Helios Investigations_. Laura opened the bottom drawer and pulled out her father’s bottle of cheap ambrosia. Deciding the glassware on the credenza was clean enough, she poured them two fingers each.

“Tell me again why you resigned from Galactica Telecomm,” Laura prompted, “I mean how it came about. The process and all.”

“I think I was fired.”

“Fired?”

“Or maybe I quit. I’m not sure where we ended up.”

Laura considered that for a moment. “I wondered if Romo had a hand in it. The timing felt like a coincidence and I’m not a big believer in coincidences.”

Lee shook his head. “Has to be a coincidence. My father. He found out about me and Kara.”

“The woman you had the affair with? She works for your father?”

“Yeah, it’s how we met. He put her in charge of the Virgon office, a considerable promotion I might add, and took away my access to the executive cafeteria,” he laughed. “Sounds so petty, doesn’t it? I guess I know how I stack up in the scheme of things to the old man.”

Laura gave a sympathetic nod. “My father and I never saw eye to eye. I can’t imagine working for him.”

“I thought this was your father’s business?”

“It was. He died.”

Adama looked confused.

“I didn’t work here when he was alive,” Laura clarified. 

“Wait, so you’re new to this?”

Laura peered at him over her glass of ambrosia. “A few months. Besides, I did okay on your case, didn’t I?” 

Adama laughed. “Hey, I did half the work before I walked in the door!” 

“That you did. We’d make a pretty good team,” Laura smiled and rested her elbows on the desk. “And I hear you might be looking for work.”

Adama looked around at the shabby office. “It doesn’t seem that business is very lucrative these days.” 

“The way Lampkin tells it, you’ve got considerable management skills and quite a referral base. I’ve got a legitimate company with an outstanding, albeit outdated, reputation. It’s all incorporated and ready for business.” 

Adama’s instinct and his drive to do the right thing reminded Laura of her late father. If she were honest with herself, she’d admit that selling the business or closing the doors would feel like losing him all over again and so perhaps the implied invitation is part emotional. 

Adama reached for the bottle of ambrosia to pour them each another round. “I wonder if Dee would find dating a private detective more thrilling than dating a former contract lawyer?” 

“That’s not a practical way to make a life decision,” Laura teased.

“My practical ways didn’t seem to do me much good. Did you get here by being practical?”

“No, I got here because I refused to take my ex-husband’s advice and sell.” 

Adama shrugged as if it was all the same to him. “So, when do I start?”

 

.the end


End file.
